James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash is set for release on December 19, 2025. The film sees the Na’vi tribe face a new threat known as the Ash People, who have teamed up with their opponents led by Quaritch. The previews tease yet another triumph for the visionary director who already proved his might with the first two Avatar movies. Only a few fortunate ones have had the pleasure of seeing the third Avatar movie and among them is acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro, who says that all Avatar films are “masterpieces,” including the upcoming third entry.
The Pan’s Labyrinth director recently appeared on the Video Club series for Konbini, where celebrated filmmakers throw around their favorite movies as if they were customers in a video rental store. Surfing through the shelves, del Toro selected a few recommendations, eventually finding 2009’s Avatar among them. He then offered a few words of admiration for director James Cameron, and said the Avatar films are sci-fi masterpieces by someone who understands how to create a “full mythology”:
“He’s been dreaming about that since I met him. He was already talking about Avatar in the ’90s. So, we talked about it. He dreamt about it.
“I’ve seen the three Avatars. They are absolute masterpieces. I know where it’s going, and I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people. I can’t say anything about [the third] but I can say there are very few Americans that have created a full mythology. You have [George] Lucas. You have the whole Wizard of Oz mythology with Frank Baum. Jim is creating that with Avata, and he’s going to take you places.”
Del Toro Has Always Shown His Support for James Cameron’s Work
Back in 2022, del Toro also praised the second film in the series, Avatar: The Way of Water. Taking to his social media account, the Academy Award winner wrote: “A staggering achievement – AVATAR TWOW is chock-full of majestic vistas and emotions at an epic, epic scale. A master at the peak of his powers.”
However, their friendship goes way back to the early ’90s, when James Cameron was still developing Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and del Toro was trying to get a distributor to buy his feature debut, Cronos. When holding a copy of the original Avatar, del Toro says:
“Jim is my brother. We became brothers about 20, no, no, 30-something years ago. I met him in 1991 or 1992. Instantly, we liked each other. I don’t know why he liked me. I know why I liked him because he’s a genius. I lived in his house for a long time. We would watch anime together. He introduced me to Patlabor. I introduced him to Battle Angel.”
Del Toro also talked about Cameron’s vital role during the kidnapping of his father in Mexico in 1997:
“He also was helpful with the kidnapping of my father. People say, ‘Oh, he loaned him a million dollars.’ No, no. He hired the negotiator, a quarter of a million dollars. He paid for the negotiator. We paid him back. But the day they took my dad, I called him, and he said, ‘I’m sending a negotiator from the UK. Follow his instructions.’ And he was instrumental. And then he wanted to fly the ransom with the US Marines. Jim likes adventure. And that’s why he goes to the bottom of the ocean and all that, while I go to the burger stand.”